Quotations and Literature Forum

Hi , anybody to remind me who said " If everybody cleans infront of his door , the town will be clean " . Many thanx

The quote is attributed to Goethe around the Net, but no citation is found for him.

The saying had a history long before Goethe was born (1749):

When we would have the street cleansed, let every man sweep his own door, and it is quickly done.~Thomas Adams, Sermons, ii, 307 (1629).

How soon are those streets made clean, where every one sweeps against his own door.~Thomas Fuller, A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine, bk iii, ch. 1 (1650)

If everyone will sweep his own house, the city will be clean.~Torriano, Universale, p. 41 (1666)

Sweep before your own door~John Ray, English Proverbs, p. 135 (1678)

It's also an old French proverb: Chacun doit balayer devant sa propre porte (Everyone should sweep before his own door). The Germans say, "Sweep under your own doormats."

thanx a lot for ur help ! God bless